


Still Friends, Right?

by GuardianofFun



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, One-Sided Attraction, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 04:43:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10529190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuardianofFun/pseuds/GuardianofFun
Summary: Malcolm's in the captain's chair, Trip just called him babe, and the entire bridge crew is trying to suppress their laughter. Yet somehow, Malcolm doesn't feel like laughing.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the spam but I'm filling a load of prompts on tumblr (charlestuckeriii, if you wanna come find me!) 
> 
> Back to angst, because why the frick not :D

As usual, Archer had conveniently ignored Malcolm’s suggestion of taking a security team. He hadn’t even taken Malcolm, no, he had left him sitting in the captain’s chair and hauled Trip and T’Pol off for a quick bit of shore leave under the guise of a First Contact mission. Something sat uneasy in Malcolm’s stomach, and he had protested the entire walk from the bridge to the shuttlepod, but it all fell on deaf ears. Trip had clapped him on the back and told him to loosen up a bit, and Malcolm had been so distracted by the sudden spark from the touch that by the time he regained his voice, both captain and engineer had hopped into the shuttlepod alongside the subcommander. 

Now Malcolm sat alert on Archer’s chair, one hand curled around the arm of the chair, the other tapping out an irregular pattern on his thigh. He had in all his years of working, learnt when to trust the nagging feeling in his gut, and he wished Archer had too. 

* * *

 

Three hours later they were being hailed by one of the communicators. Malcolm glanced over to Hoshi and nodded. There was some background noise, the continuous murmur of conversation. A rough voice that he assumed belonged to one of the natives was particularly prominent, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. Then there was a shuffle and a much more human voice.

“Uh, hey Mal,” he heard Trip’s voice echoing joyfully around the bridge. “How ya doin’ babe?” he asked and Malcolm jerked upright. He felt himself flush as he stammered back. 

“I’m doing fine thank you, Trip,” he called back, hoping the question was evident in his voice. Trip laughed, though it didn’t sound quite natural. 

“Oh good!” Malcolm looked over at Hoshi, an eyebrow raised, to which she shrugged. “What I wanted to ask,” Trip continued. “Was are you still comin’ on this date tonight?” 

Travis managed, thankfully, to cover his snort with a cough, while Hoshi only just managed to bite her lip to hide her laughter. 

“Our date?” Malcolm managed to croak out. 

“Yeah, tonight? I know I only asked ya this mornin’ but really, you forgot already?” Trip sighed jokingly, but there was a strained edge to his voice, which was what finally made the penny drop. Trip was talking in a - admittedly rather odd - code, putting on some kind of show. It felt like trouble.

“O-oh, yes of course,” he said, and then blushed an even darker red. “What about it, _love_?” he asked. When Trip responded, his voice sounded lighter.

“I was wonderin’ if you wanted to move it up, we found a nice _bar_ down here, reminds me of that night we spent in Risa.” All too vividly, Malcolm thought, images of Trip in nothing but his pants flashing through his mind. If he was reading the commander’s voice right, the away team were stuck somewhere with an audience, else he was deciding to pull a rather unfair prank. 

“I remember that,” Malcolm said, trying to inject some fondness into the reminiscing. 

“Yeah, well, same sorta thing’s goin’ on down here. Fancy makin’ that date a little earlier?” Malcolm’s hands were already flying across the panel in the chair, notifying members of his security team. 

“Sounds like a plan, Trip,” he said with a happiness that was betrayed by the grim look on his face as he worked quickly. 

“Great! See you in a bit?” Malcolm nodded towards Travis, who seemed to have cottoned on as well, and the boomer made towards the turbolift.

“Sure thing, love.” Malcolm winced at how easily the pet name rolled off his tongue as he stood up. 

“Bye Mal, love you.” 

Malcolm hoped that nobody noticed the way his face was glowing as he made the short run to the turbolift.

* * *

Some hours later, Trip and Malcolm sat with Archer in the captain’s mess. T’Pol had retired early, and by the look on the captain’s face, he was thinking of doing the same. The team of three had somehow found themselves in the middle of a hostage situation while planet side, and Trip’s genius idea had been to say that Malcolm was his boyfriend, and that he desperately needed to check on him, in order to contact the ship. One shuttlepod ride later, and Malcolm’s security team had quickly and efficiently eliminated the problem. 

They had laughed about the whole thing over dinner, but all Malcolm could hear was Trip’s voice. The way he had sounded when he had hung up, said that dangerous word that left Malcolm’s heart fluttering like a schoolboys. He poked at his dinner, not entirely paying attention to Trip and Archer’s banter, until the Captain pushed his chair back, and the harsh sound shook him from his thoughts. 

“Well, I think I’m going to turn in for the night,” he said, rising up. He stuck out a hand to prevent Malcolm from rising too. “You guys stay, finish up.” He chuckled. “You never got that date, now did you?” Trip joined the laughter as Archer ducked out, but Malcolm struggled to give more than a half-smile. Trip turned to him still chuckling. 

“Aw, I love you Mal,” he said, throwing a hand across his chest melodramatically. “But I jus’ don’t think this is gonna work out. I think we should see other people.” The words were sombre but there was a devilish grin on his face. Malcolm offered up another small smile. 

“Are you breaking up with me?” he said, managing to quash the ridiculous tremor in his voice. Trip smiled, reaching out to pat his back and Malcolm had to swallow the lump in his throat. 

“Yeah, but we’ll always be friends.”

**Author's Note:**

> <3 Poor Mal
> 
> If you'd like to read a sequel, AlyKat write an awesome sequel to this, go check her work out, it's brilliant!!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Never Just Friends](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10904808) by [AlyKat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyKat/pseuds/AlyKat)




End file.
